Joeckel, Floyd, Smith, Manuel among players to attend the draft

Posted by Michael David Smith on April 3, 2013, 9:28 AM EST

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At least 19 players will be in attendance when the NFL draft kicks off on April 25 at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

Adam Schefter of ESPN has a list of those scheduled to attend the draft, and it includes potential top picks Luke Joeckel of Texas A&M and Sharrif Floyd of Florida, as well as quarterbacks Geno Smith of West Virginia and E.J. Manuel of Florida State.

One player has publicly confirmed that he turned down a draft invitation: Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o, who is trying to stay out of the spotlight. A few well-known players, including USC quarterback Matt Barkley and Oregon defensive end Dion Jordan, have not yet committed.

13 responses to “Joeckel, Floyd, Smith, Manuel among players to attend the draft”

Why would they invite EJ Manuel? It’s possible he might not get drafted until Saturday. That would be horrible for the kid to not only be the last person in the green room, but to be there for several days. Terrible for the NFL to invite him and for his agent to instruct him to go.

I think EJ and his agent MUST have some level of commitment from a team. Otherwise I agree, it doesn’t make sense for him to be up there. Players 9/10 times won’t be there, unless they have a team that has told them “If you fall to _ _ spot in the 1st round, we’ll be taking you.”

Manuel was invited and accepted most likely because it is expected that his name will be called on day 1. Look at the top 10 teams. With the exception of Detroit at #5 ALL of those teams could potentially look to draft a QB. I agree with Mayock: none of them are true first round talent and Mayock has him as the #2 QB. But, as you know, the same teams perennially picking in the top ten every year always seem to have QB issues…and they over reach for that position. It never fails. Stupidity will always favor the stupid. Of those top 10 teams noted, any of them could trade up into the back end of round 1 to get the QB if there is not a run on QB in the first 10 picks. I have no doubt that Manuel will be called on day 1… Shouldn’t be…but he will.

One more thing…. Matt Flynn… Raiders QB. Not a “franchise QB”. Would you agree? But, he is a tradeable commodity. And the man is getting paid. This is the problem with QB position in today’s NFL. Hence, E.J Manuel will get overdrafted regardless of his shortcomings. This is the cycle which needs to be broken…guys are getting paid for mediocrity. Once the NFL converts 100% to flag football perhaps the QB play will get better..maybe it won’t .

Really? If he was decent enough, don’t you think GB would have wanted to keep that “valuable asset” known as Matt Flynn to step in for Rodgers in case of injury? Seattle thought so much of Matt Flynn as a franchise QB that they felt compelled to draft Wilson…who soundly beat out the veteran in open competition. To complete my point, lets see if the Raiders take a QB in their first or second pick. Having said that…they are the Raiders…and they may very well have Matt Flynn rated equal to Peyton Manning or Tom Brady…never underestimate the ignorance of Raiders front office.

Since the Post was already hijacked with Flynn stuff… here are some facts. The Dolphins were desperate for a QB last year and no staff knew more about Flynn than Fins Coaches and they passed on him. Seattle signs him and he underperforms and holds a Clipboard at Starter prices. Granted, not many knew R. Wilson was Gold (I did ! I go to all NC State Games). If he stay upright he might be a good stopgap QB unti they groom a Starter. Raiders can’t finish about 6 wins with him and maybe 7-8 with more talent. This just speaks volumes of how poor the QB Draft is this year that all current 2nd’s are getting new jobs in musical Backups.